For all of the success the Wii has wrought for Nintendo, there is one area where the machine (and Nintendo’s strategy) has been woefully inadequate: production.
And it’s going to stay that way. Today, I found an interview at GameIndusty.biz with Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime that all but confirms there will be massive Wii shortages this holiday season.
Lest there be any remaining doubt about that in you minds:
“We’re working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can’t guarantee that we’re going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record that we won’t,” he said. “What I can tell you is that typically, our inventory is lasting a day… I don’t think we will know when supply crosses with demand until after the holiday season,” he said.
This whole production thing is vexing to me. On the one hand, I know nothing about supply chain management or manufacturing. On the other I have a calender and can see it’s been almost one year since the system launched. That said, I can also see that two sure-to-be incredible games are due out for the system in November and December. But, again, it’s been a frickin’ year! See? It’s confusing. Are they squeezing the chain to put the hype train into ludicrous speed, or have they fumbled the ball with poor facilities and management? Either way, Nintendo has had plenty of time to iron this out in time for the second holiday season. Right, or wrong?